To Ride the Sky
by alchemisthetaliapirates
Summary: Alfred F. Jones has recently started attending Hetalia Academy where he will be on the Equestrian team. How did he already get the grumpy Brit to dislike him? Will they ever get along?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**_ To ride a horse is to ride the sky- Anonymous_

Arthur sighed, there were only five minutes left in his least favourite class, chemistry, yet it seemed like there had been five minutes left for an hour already. And the instructor kept droning on and on about periodic trends as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. It was Friday last period, and Arthur thought it was the worst way to begin his Friday afternoons. It wasn't as if anyone was paying attention and the teacher couldn't control the class on a normal day. The other students in the class were talking softly but without trying very hard to hide the fact that were. Arthur rolled his eyes and jotted down something the teacher said about ionization energy.

He put his pencil down as he sighed again tugging on his messy green bangs. He glanced at his watch three_ minutes left_. He sighed yet again.

"Mon ami, ça va*?" the long haired blonde male with pale blue eyes next to him asked in a French accent.

"Belt it Frog the last thing I need is a Friday detention with you." Arthur hissed in response, slightly annoyed that he had understood what the teenager next to him had said _I don't even take French_ he mentally complained before he zoned out again doodling a tiny fairy in his margins. It wasn't good at all, but it kept Arthur entertained for a few more minutes.

_Bring_ a shrill bell called. The teacher bid them a good weekend and reminded of them of their impending quiz. But nobody was listening as they all slammed their notebooks shut and raced out of the chemistry room talking about the same thing they were talking about in class only louder.

"So what are we doing tonight?" The pale blue eyed teenager asked as they exited the science building and headed towards the dorms.

Arthur groaned. "I am not doing anything with you today Frog. I have practise and then I have to call Allistor."

"Mais mon ami it will be twelve at night in England before you get a chance to phone ton frère. Come with Antonio, Gilbert and I to see Avengers." Francis said stepping in front of the short Englishman stopping him in his tracks.

Arthur let out a huff. "Yes it will be which is why I need to call him then before he goes to bed." He replied without answering his classmates offer.

The French teenager sighed getting as exasperated as the green haired one in front of him. "You are a hermit Arthur Kirkland! Your frère can wait one day to hear from you. Come out with your friends and be a teenager!"

"No you bloody wanker. Now let me pass before I am late for practise." blood was rushing to the angry Brit's face and a vein was beginning to bulge as he attempted to sidestep around Francis.

But Francis was to quick and grabbed Arthur and leaned in so Arthur could feel his warm breath on his ear. "I will tell Antonio and Gilbert that we used to" he paused and kissed Arthur's cheek, it was a simple peck, it meant nothing, it was merely flirtatious, Francis gave out theses sort of things at least eight times a day… Yet it still made his red face even redder due to the resulting blush. _STOP IT. _Arthur mentally scolded himself. He hated it when he reacted like that to Francis, it was over… right? _Yes! Yes it is completely over! It is just hormones! He is your… Enemy? Friend? Person you hang out with so you won't be alone? Whatever! You don't have feelings for him! _Arthur shook his head trying to clear his mind of the thousands of thoughts that were running around his head. At least the thoughts stopped racing around his head.

"I guess I can email Allistor and tell him I was dragged out against my will." Arthur mumbled "Not that what happened was anything special, it was only a month." It was more to himself to anyone else as he skirted around the Frenchman who was laughing loudly. He then proceeded to run back to his dorm almost bumping into many other students and a few teachers who called out in vain. "Don't run."

Arthur slammed his door open and flung his bag (he was never neat it came from living with three older brothers, one younger brother who did what his older brothers did, and a younger sister who was just a big a slob as his eldest brother) into the corner and quickly got dressed in a pair of jeans and a polo shirt. He quickly found his helmet but he had to dig around his floor to find his half chaps. Arthur was just about to race out of his dorm when he heard a voice call "Arthur-san your boots."

Arthur looked over at his Japanese roommate who had been observing him the entire time without uttering a word. "Where..." Kiku pointed to a pair of paddock boots tucked away messily under Arthur's desk. "Thanks Kiku!" Arthur called as he raced out of the dorm and headed for the stables.

When his roommate left Kiku just smiled and shook his head before going back to his sketch book for his art class.

"Damn that frog how did he even get accepted here?" Arthur pondered aloud as he slowed his steps as he crossed the threshold of the barn.

'Here' was Hetalia Academy an elite private boarding school (Founded in 1634, two years prior to when Harvard was founded, and located in upstate New York.) that had a wide international program. One did not simply apply to The Academy; one was scouted and, invited. In order to be invited one not only had to be smart with drive, ambition and goals, but also be well rounded with a second talent that did not include school work. Arthur's other talent was equestrianism and luckily Hetalia academy was the kind of school that had a riding team.

In fact Hetalia Academy was the kind of school that had one science building, (equipped with almost everything besides lasers and supercolliders… though there was a rumour going around that the senior Vash Zwingli could take you because his father was a scientist at CERN.) a language department that taught over twenty languages (if you wanted to learn it all you had to do was find two other students and a teacher or elder student who had at least four frees to teach the language. If it was a student teaching it, it was probably their first language.) Hetalia Academy was first in maths scores and their sports facilities were fantastic as well. The theatre could rival The Globe in England, and the band could bring tears to many students' eyes. To be blunt Hetalia Academy was perfect (academically wise if he could Arthur would change a few things about his fellow classmates, like make them less perverted, Francis, or less creepy, Ivan.) and just like any perfect private school one must be extremely wealthy or get in on a scholarship. Arthur was the latter meaning he had to be better than everyone, top of the class or it was back to his old public school in London, not that he would mind being back in his home country again.

The point of Hetalia Academy was to "create the next best thinkers, artists, and athletes of the century, while at the same time give our students opportunities to interact with a global community that would be with our students for a lifetime." Or so the invitation said. When Arthur had gotten his invitation it was as if a muggle-born had been invited to Hogwarts.

"Hello Morgana." Arthur called to his Cleveland Bay horse who was currently munching on a flake of hay. She flicked her ears in response.

"Kirkland you're late!" one of his teammates called as she was bringing her horse out of their stall already tacked up.

"I know Elizabeta; don't worry your Hungarian head I will still be in there in time for practise." Arthur replied as he opened up Morgana's stall door and began to quickly brush her down. Arthur tacked up quickly and was slowed only by his horse nudging her face into his stomach as if to say, 'That was for interrupting my dinner.' Before she let Arthur put on her bridle.

Finally the Brit walked out of Morgana's stall and headed toward the arena much calmer than when he had started out.

"The next competition is in two months. Remember this will be a qualifier for nationals." their coach called out as Arthur mounted Morgana.

"Elizabeta and Ludwig you two need to work on your cross country jumping. Jeanne and Bella jumping, and Arthur your dressage could be fixed. Also, Arthur, please come and talk to me once I have dismissed you all. And" their German coach looked down at his clipboard "we will be getting a new teammate soon."

A cry of protest went up. Though the team usually fought together quite often they were very close and they didn't like the idea of adding a new team member to their tight group. Their coach whistled loudly. "As I was saying he and his brother are transferring to The Academy this weekend. And this Alfred F. Jones," the coach read from his clipboard" is an excellent rider we will be lucky to have him." the coach glared at the riders daring them to challenge his authority. Reluctantly they all mumbled out a yes sir before they went off to work on their riding.

Arthur rode up "you wanted to talk to me sir?"

"When Jones gets here I want you to be his guide, show him around school, teach him the ropes of the team, make him feel at home." the coach stated simply as he patted Morgana's strong neck.

"Can I ask why sir?" Arthur asked getting slightly irritated.

"Firstly you are the sophomore's class president so you should make all new students feel welcome. Second this boy is as good as you when it comes to jumping and I want you two to work together. It will be good for you to have some friendly competition pushing you forward. Now go work on that pattern I gave you last week." Coach Beilschmidt said leaving no room for arguments as he turned to help Jeanne.

Arthur sighed as he twirled his gloved hand in Morgana's mane. He hadn't even met this Jones yet and he was already getting annoyed by him.

* * *

**Translation: My friend how are you?**

**Rant: Hey ya'll this will be a multi-chapter fic, I'm just not sure how many. BUT I REALLY NEED A BETA! *Start begging to all betas reading this story with an interest* If you are interested please PM me and I'll explain what I need and such.**

**So yeah *ignores fact that she was groveling two seconds ago* please review and tell me if I should continue this.**

**I don't own Hetalia because if I did UsUk would ALWAYS have uke England.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

_I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. J. R. R. Tolkien Bilbo Baggins Fellowship of the Ring_

I stepped out of my fathers beat up F150 and stretched. We had just arrived at my new school, Hetalia Academy after three hours of driving. I was sore to say the least, and I hadn't been able to sleep. The back of my dads truck had been packed to the limit with things Mattie and I would need for school, and why Mattie got to stay in the front I still didn't understand.

" come on Al your horse is probably freaking out about being on a trailer for three hours." Matt said as he stepped out of the truck. He yawned, _he_ got to sleep on the ride up.

" Patriot doesn't freak out." I defended as I opened the tack room door and got out Patriot's lead rope. He didn't get scared... just excited... Yeah excited.

Matt just snorted as he checked out his hockey gear to make sure nothing got disorganised.

" ah you boys must be Alfred and Matthew ." a cheery voice called as I stepped out of the tack room, note how he didn't try to point out who was who.

" yes sir" Matt replied as he shook the mans hand. The man was wearing a polo shirt and khaki shorts. His brown hair was messy and he had a strange curl sitting that refused to stay with the rest of his hair, not that I should talk what with the bane of my mother's existence sitting atop my head. He had a bright warm smile as he turned to me and shook my hand. His brown eyes were warm and glinting in warmth and humour.

" I'm Mr. Vargas the schools headmaster. glad you boys made it on a Sunday, it will give you time to settle in, tomorrow's a day off anyway. The stable is over there Alfred, someone is waiting for you from the equestrian team and he'll show you around once you put your horse away. Matthew and Mr. Jones I will take your around the school after you get settled. " He talked very fast and sounded extremely happy. Mattie and Dad nodded and smiled politely, but I beamed, I liked this guy!

" Nice to meet you Mr. Vargas." I said and waved to Matt and Dad as they walked with Mr. Vargas to the main school building as well as the dormitories, before I started to unload Patriot.

Patriot was excited to be off the trailer and as soon as he was out he let out a call to let the other horses know that he was here. We had parked near the stable and at Patriots call someone exited the stables.

He was shorter than me and had messy blonde hair that had neon green bangs and his hair didn't seem to lie flat. He was wearing jeans and an old Beatles teeshirt. His eyes were a bright green and he had the biggest eyebrows I had ever seen, I let out a soft chuckle that only Patriot could hear. He had on a serious expression and he seemed angry to be here.

" hullo." he said, oh god he was British.

" hey I'm Alfred Jones . I'm gonna be on the equestrian team. Are you the person who Mr. Vargas told me would meet me." I said as I gave him one of my million watt smiles.

" you're going to be on the equestrian team. " he corrected under his breath, I flinched, grammar nazis and I never got along. Still not quite meeting me in the eye he said, " I am Arthur Kirkland. I am president of the sophomore class and I have been ordered to show you around school and teach you the ropes ." he said. It was clear he was trying very hard to be civil, and wait did he say he was ordered to help me? Ouch.

" where can I put my horse?" I asked gesturing to Patriot who hat bent his head to start grazing.

He eyed my 17 hand palomino American warm blood appreciatively. He seemed to have sized him up immediately and he seemed to soften his eyes for him, but when he lifted his gaze to briefly meet mine again they hardened. " we have a stall ready but if you'd rather turn him out we can see if anyone minds if you put them out with their horse."

I grinned again, " sounds good"

"most of the horses have a specific herd and they get antsy when another one comes in but I'll get the rest of the team and see who your horse will fit in with." he turned around on his heals and headed to a building separate from the rest of the stable, it looked like a kind of building where riders could hangout on hot or cold days.

Arthur returned a while later with four other people. There were three girls, all of who were smiling stiffly at me and one other boy . The other boy had a stern expression, but he seemed nice enough .

" everyone's horse is in a herd except for mine, talk to them and you can try to get your horse in." Arthur said referring to his teammates.

" Arthur, 'ow rude you did not even introduce us." one of the girls chided. She had golden blonde hair which reached down slightly below her chin and twinkling blue eyes, Arthur merely scoffed and leaned against the wall of the clubhouse.

" Alfred ," Arthur gestured to me. " this is Jeanne, Elizabeta , Bella, and Ludwig. " Arthur said gesturing to each of our teammates.

" So good to meet you." Elizabeta said warmly enough though I could detect an undercurrent of hostility. She had mouse brown hair and green eyes that seemed to fail in comparison to Arthur's.

"Yeah it is _so great _that we have a new teammate ." Bella said, she too had blonde hair slightly longer than Jeanne's and again green eyes, that again didn't seem to be as... enchanting as Arthur's.

" don't mind them, welcome to the team." Jeanne said scolding the others slightly. For some reason I was getting a tense vibe from the others as if they were upset about me being here.

Grinning I told them that I couldn't wait to practise with them. After talking for a few moments I had won all of them over except for Arthur who seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. _Challenge accepted_ I thought.

" would you like to try him out with our herd?" Ludwig asked he was tall and carried himself as if he was in the military, he had pale blue eyes and his blonde hair was slicked back.

" yeah."

Elizabeta led us to a padock to the side of the arena.

" we'll bring your horse over to Blitz." Ludwig said gesturing to a black Holsteiner. " he's the leader of the herd and if he doesn't like your horse then we'll have to put him alone until they get used to each other."

Ludwig brought over the big black gelding and held him on one side of the paddock fence I held Patriot on the other. Almost immediately Blitz pinned his ears and he tried to rear, responding Patriot nearly knocked me off my feet as he did rear, the lead was pulled out of my hands leaving a nasty rope burn. Quickly Arthur caught the lead and led Patriot a good distance away.

" thanks " I said as I took Patriot back, he had calmed down and continued munching on some grass, as if nothing had happened. Yup that was Patriot.

" that's a no." Elizabeta said walking over her pony tail, which was tucked under a bandana, was swinging back and forth.

"why don't you try to out 'im in with Morgana?" Jeanne asked as she stroked my horse's neck.

Arthur grumbled something but reluctantly took us to a smaller paddock behind the stables. He ducked under the fence and easily caught a small bay mare. He led her over and Patriot knickered enthusiastically. We waited a few moments but nothing happened, our two horses sniffed each other then merely stared and eventually they went back to grazing .

" I don't know..." Arthur said as he glanced at Patriot, and then to me, which seemed to put more conviction in him not wanting Patriot to go out with the bay.

" Arthur you know what Beilschmidt says, if they don't kill each other in the first five minutes theyll be fine." Bella said as she opened up the gate so I could let Patriot go. He trotted over to where Morgana and Arthur were standing, reluctantly Arthur let Morgana go and the two horses trotted over to a different area and began grazing .

" Come on we'll help you unload your tack and ten Arthur can show you around school." Elizabeta suggested , her eyes lit up a little when she talked about me and Arthur being alone.

" thanks" I said grinning as I turned to Arthur, he didn't say anything he just scowled turned and walked to my trailer.

When none of us followed he said, " are you gits coming or not, because I have better things to do today than to lead a bloody yank around school."

My face must have given away my annoyance at the Brit because Bella patted my arm sympathetically, " don't worry about him he's just a... What did you call him Liz?"

" tsundere ." Elizabeta replied with a slight German accent, that was different than Ludwig's.

" yeah tsundere , don't worry he'll come around." Bella said as we continued walking .

I paused for a moment wondering what tsundere was then I smiled, remembering what Kiku ( he had shown me around when I was visiting the academy and we had kept in touch afterward) had told me what tsundere meant.

I ran to catch up with Arthur and slung my arm around his shoulder, " I am sure we will be great friends ."

I could feel him squirm in my grasp as he let out a stream of curses all while telling me to let go. I grinned as I let the short British boy go , if I could hang out with him for the next three years with him I would be good.

* * *

**A/N: YAY for Chapter two! **

**The quotes at the beginning kinda only a little have to do with the chapter though not really.**

**Ugh... I am so bad at describing people.**

**Please review. Please?**

**Again still need a beta *Puppy dog eyes that could rival Italy's/America's*.**

**I am sorry to inform you all that I do not own Hetalia. I know you all thought I did, but I don't. I am also not J.R.R. Tolkien **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

_ "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain_

I looked up at the pixilated picture of Allistor in my Skype box.

"Oi, Arthur. Are you listening to me?" Allistor asked in his gruff voice. Somehow, after ten years of living in Scotland, he had gained a somewhat thick accent. It wasn't as bad as one from Glasgow but sometimes it got thick, especially when he's angry.

"Yes..." I lied as I rested my head on my desk. Kiku was talking to his parents in Japan; it was about eight in the morning there and he was speaking softly in Japanese.

"What'd I ask?" Allistor asked, snapping me back to him.

"It was a question about my social life." I said. I had been listening; my mind had just been elsewhere, more specifically, Alfred Bloody Jones.

"Yes it was. Why, at seven on a Friday night, are you in your dorm room?" He repeated with his red eyebrows, not nearly as thick as mine (but still thicker than the average persons) mind you, raised questioningly.

"Had to talk to you," I replied, my head still on the desk. I was tired. All week, Jones had been bothering me, asking me to show him around school constantly, and practice today had been horrible, AND the chemistry test that I had was bloody awful.

"Don't give me that..." Allistor started but my sister-in-law had come into Allistor's study and her face lit up.

"Arthur!" she cooed, peering over my brother's shoulder. Mary had a terribly thick Glasgow accent.

"Hi, Mary." I said, lifting my head, my green bangs tickling my eyebrows. I looked like a mess on the screen; I shouldn't have initiated a video call. Now Mary was just going to harp on about how I was overworking myself.

But first she leaned over and plucked the smoke out of my brother's mouth, took a drag of it, and then put it out.

"No smoking in the house," she chided. Allistor made to protest but she immediately silenced him with a look from her piercing blue eyes. They were not as blue as Alfred's; her's were paler, but they held so much joy, and when she wanted to, she could stop Peter and I from fighting with one look. Dammit! Why was I comparing her eyes to Jones'? I didn't give two shits that his eyes were the most beautiful blue I had ever seen, or that they were framed perfectly by his glasses.

"Arthur dear, are you getting enough sleep? No offense dear, but you look like shit," she said, a small frown of concern on her lips.

"'m fine, Mary." I mumbled, ducking my head to hide the bags under my eyes.

"Tell him to go out and do something." Allistor said.

"Why aren't you hanging out your friends dear? Look at me dear," she commanded.

I raised my head. "No one is doing anything tonight." I told her, just as Allistor scoffed and asked, "What friends?"

Mary hit Allistor and glared at him. We used to fight a lot when I was younger, and while it had gotten a lot better ever since he had started taking care of me, he still loved to tease me. I understood it was brotherly and I shouldn't worry about it, but Mary always made him apologize.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"What about Francis? Doesn't he always do something with his friends on Fridays?" Mary asked.

"I spent last Friday with him; if I spend too much time with the frog, I might just go insane." I said, leaning back in my desk chair, or at least as far as my headphones would let me. Kiku was finishing up talking to his parents it seemed.

"What about your teammates?" Mary was really determined to have me go out. She always worried too much, but it was... Nice. I understood why Allistor had married her.

"None of them have asked me out to do anything and it wouldn't be gentlemanly to impose, besides knowing them, they all have dates or something." I explained. I looked at the pile of books on my bed, wishing Mary hadn't shown up. I wasn't going to be able to leave until I promised to go out.

I heard Kiku get up and start changing. Mary had resorted to just staring at me, a pitying smile on her lips.

"Arthur-san, are you doing anything tonight?" Kiku asked as he was pulling up the zipper on his hoodie.

"No..." I said as I looked at Mary; her face was lit up and she waited for me to go. Allistor pretended to have lost interest a while ago, but I could see his smirk.

"I was going to go out to the town with a few others, and we were wondering if you wished to come. If you are too busy..." Kiku trailed off, his head slightly dipped in case he was imposing.

"No, no. I can come, just let me say bye." I told him, turning back to my conversation. "Tell Brielle and Peter I'll try and call tomorrow to talk." I said to Allistor and Mary.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Allistor said.

Mary smirked and slapped him teasingly before she turned and said cheerily, "Be safe dear, but have fun okay?"

I nodded before I hung up. I quickly got dressed and grabbed my wallet, before I walked out with Kiku.

"Who's going?" I asked as we made our way to the administration's office to sign out.

"Gilbert-sempai, Elizabeta-chan, Mei*, and Alfred-kun. Though, there may be others later, too." Kiku said, adding Jones quickly.

"Wait a tick. It's all couples except Alfred and I." I stormed. I couldn't be completely mad at Kiku, but I didn't have to be happy with him.

"Well, like I said, others may be coming later. I am very sorry, I just thought you might have wanted to get out of the dorm," he said and bowed his head, his brown eyes deeply troubled, and he seemed really upset.

I sighed. "Sorry I got mad; you did get me out of an awkward conversation with my sister-in-law so I guess I should thank you." I said after we had signed out and were walking to the bus stop. There was a crowd of people gathered; it seemed more people had been invited and it wasn't just going to be Alfred and I who were single.

Speak of the bloody devil, the damn git was right in the front of the crowd, and the moment he saw me he waved. Not a small wave, mind you, but a large wave that looked as if he was flagging down a battleship. His wheat blonde hair was kept nearly in line except for one little cowlick that always defied gravity ever since the first day I had met him. His glasses were askew, a bit. He was wearing his bomber jacket even though it was only cold enough to need a light jacket. And the grin on his face was enormous.

"Hey, Artie! Kiku said he was going to invite you but I didn't know if you would come!" he said, clapping me on the back and I stumbled a little not ready for the impact.

"I've told you Jones, it is Arthur, not Artie," Alfred made to open his mouth. "and it is certainly not 'Iggy'. Where did you even get that atrocious nickname from? Don't answer that." I said as he opened his mouth again to reply.

"Hey Arthur! I'm glad you decided to come, we're going to paint the town with my awesomeness!" Gilbert proclaimed as the bus pulled up to the stop.

"The phrase is 'paint the town white', and we won't do any such thing considering we have to be back by ten." I said as I chose a seat. Elizabeta sat down next to Gilbert and to my great misfortune, Alfred sat next to me.

"Arthur, man, can't I have this one thing? It's my last year after all." Gilbert replied.

"And what you have to remember sweetie, is that they have two more years at The Academy." Elizabeta reminded as she greeted the two underclass men, and pecked her albino boyfriend's cheek softly. Alfred pretended to gag to tease our teammate, but it took way more than that to off put Elizabeta and Gilbert. If anything, it just made them act cuter just to make you cringe. Yep… There was the kiss on the lips.

Gilbert then laughed and started talking to his girlfriend, leaving me to sit next to Jones, who was too close and smelled too good for someone who only an hour ago, had been around horses. This was going to be a long night...

* * *

I was in an arcade. I had wanted to just simply walk around, but the minute Alfred got off the bus, he grabbed my arm and tugged me over to it. It was fashioned like an old penny arcade except now just fifteen tickets cost five dollars. And Jones just wouldn't shut up about his life. He seemed to have the common decency to not ask me questions but he kept talking.

"I've lived in Mass all my life. It's not a bad state and it was only a couple of hours drive from Boston." Ah, so that was what that accent was. I had heard a large variety of American accents since my living here but I was never good at pinpointing them.

"Have you met Matt?" Alfred asked. He had just lost his game and was leaning up against the machine.

"Who? Oh, your brother? No." I said. Immediately, I wished I had lied because Jones poked his head out, grinned, and called, "Mattie come here and meet Artie!"

"It's Arthur, you American-" my insult was cut off as Alfred's brother stepped into the arcade. His brother had longer hair than Alfred but it was the same soft colour. He had violet eyes that were framed by glasses similar to Alfred's, and he was wearing jeans and a hockey jersey that had a big maple leaf on it.

"Geez Al… Could you have been any louder? I was right outside." Matthew stated quietly but he gave a glare at Alfred that showed he was used to these kinds of things. Alfred let off a loud laugh.

That was when the frog waltzed in. "Ah, so zis is where you went Mathieu, and I thought we were 'aving a nice chat. Oh, allo Arthur, Alfred." Francis said as his eyes skimmed over us and a small smile graced his lips. He had obviously drawn the wrong conclusions. I sighed and resisted the urge to slap my face.

"Please tell me you aren't sexually harassing the poor boy, Frog." I said. A look of protectiveness flashed over Alfred's face.

"Mon lapin! 'Ow dare you accuse me of abusing l'amour in zat way! Like I said, Mathieu and I were merely talking," he told us as he found a seat.

"I told you not to call me that!" I fumed at the nickname Francis had given me while we were dating.

"You did not mind it when we were..."

"Don't tell them or you will wake up finding something valuable missing from your body tomorrow." I threatened. Alfred seemed to be slightly confused but eventually he caught on and frowned. Matthew seemed slightly amused by the entire thing, but he smiled apologetically at me anyways.

"Come Mathieu, we can finish our talk elsewhere." Francis said, standing up.

Alfred seemed to snap out of his daze and I swore I could see a rush of protectiveness course through him. "Wait no! Matt I thought we could hang out and could all chill together and get to know each other."

"Sorry Al, but I didn't mean to interrupt your date." Matthew said. He wasn't trying to be mean, but that didn't stop Alfred and I from spluttering like idiots telling him we were most definitely _not _on a date.

I could still hear the Frog's laughter ringing in my ears as it melded with the pings of the arcade.

"Uh… I… Uh, do you want to head back?" Alfred asked.

I nodded mutely and we walked back to the bus stop in silence. When we found our seats, we made sure to sit in a way that showed in no way were we dating, or in my case, friends.

* * *

**A/N: First of all I want to thank Xxx-ForgottenSecret-xxX for being awesome and offering to be my beta, you are so awesome and have no clue how much I appreciate it! She is super awesome and you should all support her by looking at her stories.**

**Translations: l'amour: love**

**Mon Lapin: My rabbit**

**Characters: Mei= Taiwan ( additional note Kiku does not add an honorific because when one is close to someone an honorific is not needed (I have these two dating))**

**Brielle: North Ireland**

**I don't own Hetalia, otherwise it would be illegal to ship Switzerland with Lichtenstein. Or Lichtenstein with anyone for that matter. **

**You thought you were going to get through this author's note with no begging for review weren't you? Well how wrong you were. Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

_"It's just counting strides, finding your distance, swapping leads, and looking good doing it. Relax, what could be easier?"  
-Anonymous_

I ran to the stable, cursing under my breath. My AP chem class had run late and if I didn't hurry, I was going to be late for practise, and at the moment I wasn't quite sure whose wrath was the worst to face.

Bella seemed to be the most relaxed out of my teammates, but after spending only little over a month with her, I had learned that she wasn't her usual self when you disappointed her... And her boyfriend was really scary when she was sad.

As for Jeanne... Never upset a French woman, because they can get /very/ agitated when you go against them. And somehow, French swears seem to have more affect when coming out of a woman; Mattie and Francis didn't seem to have the same level of control over that part of the language as Jeanne.

Then there was Liz. There were rumors around the academy that she had once hit Francis over the head with a frying pan because she was so mad at him, and only a strong, scarier-than-a-demon woman could keep someone like Gilbert in line.

The Beilschmidt grandfather and grandson pair were equally as threatening. They also had the same disappointed look. Must run in the family, though it seemed to have skipped Gil.

As for Arthur... I shivered just thinking about the explosion that was waiting for me. Ever since I went to the arcade with him, he seemed to be avoiding me more and more. And when we did have to interact he would either completely ignore me or find the tiniest excuse to blow up at me. And man, can Brits get really pissed off! Even though when he yells at me in his British accent it makes me smile... This makes him yell more.

As I ran into the barn I checked my watch; I had exactly five minutes to tack Patriot up or I would be late. It was already ten minutes into warm up, which meant I would have to waste some of my time I could be getting tips from the coach.

Quickly I tacked Patriot up and walked quickly to the arena. I glanced at my watch again; I had tacked up in little over ten minutes, a new personal best.

"Jones!" I heard Liz call. As the only senior on the team, she was captain and right now she was pissed that I was late, her bright green eyes glaring at me from under her visor.

"Elizabeta, it is his first time being late. Give him a break!" Ludwig called from the rail. His head was bent as he concentrated on having Blitz side pass but he still had time to delegate situations. He should become a politician or something.

"If it happens again..." Liz threatened before she turned her Furioso, Sanyi, away and kept working on her pattern.

"Alfred..." Coach said from his spot in the middle of the arena. I walked Patriot over. "Your professor called me and told me why you were late, but I still want you to clean stalls tonight as punishment. I run a strict team as you should know by now and just because you are new does not mean you get treated any different."

I nodded my head and apologized, before Coach told me that after normal practise, he wanted me to stay behind with Arthur and him to get in some jumping practise with a more advanced course for the two of us.

* * *

The course Coach had us jumping was really advanced, and it was clear that he was expecting a lot from Arthur and me.

The others had put their horses back and come to watch our attempts at the threatening looking course. Some of the jumps were at least five feet tall and one looked to be about a foot and a half wide. I sighed and gave Patriot a pat as if I wasn't only trying to reassure myself.

"Who's first?" Coach asked after we had walked the course.

Arthur said nothing as he knotted his fingers in Morgana's mane. Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and volunteered. As I got ready, the chatter from my other teammates died down.

"Don't rush the first time. Arthur will go through after, and then I'll time the both of you." Beilschmidt explained to Arthur and me.

I entered the arena and started cantering and I had Patriot run through the course. We did pretty well and didn't get any penalties, but I guess that was because I was going so slowly.

Once I exited the arena, Coach nodded at me and Arthur looked up and entered the arena. He took the course a bit faster than me, but it probably was because he couldn't slow Morgana down (that horse was a speed demon), and yet, he still managed to have zero faults as well.

"Now try to do it as fast as you can." Coach told us.

Our teammates had stopped being so silent and instead started cheering. It seemed as if they were betting who was going to win.

I took a deep breath and then spurred Patriot forward and he went off immediately. As we approached each jump, I encouraged him and we flew over. Even though I was taking this seriously I also felt a massive grin on my face as I soared over each jump.

When I finally finished I had one penalty. Coach nodded again and the rest of the team erupted into applause. I turned and went to grin at Arthur but his head was bent with his visor and green bangs covering his face. I saw his mouth moving and it looked as if he was trying to pump himself up. Then he took a deep breath and entered the arena.

"Come on Arthur!" Bella cheered.

"Show the yank what's what!" Jeanne called. I looked over with my offended/puppy dog look and she shrugged in a way that said 'You're new to the team and I have known the short angry one for years so ergo if I am going to bet, I'm betting on him".

"Don't psych yourself out; it's just practise!" Liz encouraged.

Arthur took another deep breath and gave Morgana a small nudge with his heel, which she immediately leapt off of and took off towards the fist obstacle.

They were doing great, but by the third obstacle it was clear that Morgana was trying to get out of Arthur's guidance and just blow right through him.

He was doing a great job, still having her go for the right amount of strides, until the last few jumps.

By the third to last jump it was clear that Arthur was having a hard time keeping her in check. He must have been tired after keeping her in check for so long.

The second to last she had jumped when Arthur was barely ready.

At that point everyone had stopped cheering. It seemed as if everyone was holding their breath together. Even Coach seemed really tense.

That was when Morgana landed funny and had much less space to prepare for the final jump.

I heard Ludwig say "Mien Gott his foot is coming out." I noticed it just after he mentioned it.

Morgana surged forward as Arthur started sliding to the left. She soared over as Arthur scrambled to hang on and swore loudly. I closed my eyes and waited for the telltale noise of a body hitting dirt...

But none came.

I slowly opened up my eyes as a cheer erupted from my other teammates; Arthur was still on Morgana, though he did seem a little shaken.

"Arthur Kirkland, you better not do that again!" Liz called, scolding the Brit as she raced over to him and grabbed Morgana's reins.

"You think he meant to do that on purpose?" Ludwig asked as he walked over with Jeanne and Bella. I jumped off of Patriot and walked over to the others.

"Dude, you okay?" I asked as he slid off Morgana.

Arthur took a deep breath and said "Of course I am okay; it isn't as if I actually fell. And when you talk to me, refrain from using fragments," he scolded. I let out a laugh. If Artie was correcting my grammar then he was just fine, but I noticed his hands were shaking when he accepted the reins from Liz.

"Arthur well done; you won our little competition. Practise is over, everyone get some rest. Jones I want those stalls sparkling." Beilschmidt said as he walked towards the clubhouse; he wouldn't actually leave the stable until everyone else had.

I was expecting the exchange of money for the bets, but when Bella tried to hand Jeanne and Liz money both discreetly shook their head and looked at Arthur... Man, when had I gotten this perceptive?

* * *

I was finishing up Blitz's stall when Arthur left to go back to his dorm and the others came in.

"Niet that was the fifth time." I heard Ludwig say.

I poked my head out of the stall and asked "What was the fifth time?"

"It has been a very close call for our cher Arthur, just in these two years." Jeanne explained.

"No, Liz is right! You guys are forgetting about the time he was schooling Blitz and he was almost thrown." Bella said. I went back to work but I still listened to the conversation.

"I'm not counting that as almost falling off." Jeanne said.

"He was holding on by Blitz's neck!" Liz retorted.

"Wait this happens a lot?" I asked as I went to empty out the muck and get new shavings.

"Yeah and if Arthur didn't have fast reflexes and an amazing seat, I don't want to think about how he would be right now." Ludwig explained when I came back.

"So has he fallen off at all?" I asked.

There was a pause as everyone looked to Jeanne. I had found out that her and Francis (they were cousins) had grown up near Arthur and so out of everyone on the team, she knew the short Brit the best. Slowly she shook her head. " I cannot remember a time when he fell off, even when I went back to Domrémy-la-Pucelle mon cousin never mentioned anything..." she trailed off. Quickly we all knocked on wood for our teammates sake.

"Whose turn is it?" Liz asked as I came back from putting the wheelbarrow away.

"I did it last time." Bella said practically putting her finger on her nose.

"He always yells too much when I do it." Jeanne said.

Liz and Ludwig glanced at each other, but then slowly, Liz turned to me with a slightly evil grin on her face. "Our newest member hasn't gotten to experience this rite of passage."

"Yeah... We'll call it your initiation." Jeanne said as she lit up.

"What are you even talking about?" I asked starting to get worried; as much of a hero as I was, I wasn't liking how they sounded when they were talking.

"Every time this happens, grandfather asks someone to check up on Arthur-" Ludwig began to say.

"But as you know, our Brit gets very defensive when he thinks someone is checking up on him-" Jeanne continued.

"So naturally, none of us want to do it." Bella finished.

"Oh come on, he can't be that bad!" I laughed as we walked into the clubhouse.

"Can one of you-" Beilschmidt started.

"Alfred said he will!" my teammates replied quickly. Beilschmidt gave them a look but shrugged his shoulders and went back to grading his student's papers (He taught German as well as ancient history).

"Good luck," he said as I went to leave.

I turned back to my teammates and Coach, grinning. "I'm a hero; not even a grumpy Brit can deter me when I'm on a mission!" I then raced out of the clubhouse and made my way to the Dorms.

* * *

As the "Hero" left the rest of the team looked at each other. Ludwig sighed and wiped his face, Jeanne chuckled lowly as she thought of the challenge ahead for the American, Bella hid a small smile as she thought of what Arthur might say, and Elizabeta had a smirk that took up her entire face. Quickly she sent a text to Kiku, the sophomore she had taken a liking to when he was a freshman, and not just because he came from the country that basically invented yaoi. **"Get out of your dorm; I don't need you messing up real life yaoi."**

**"**?**"** was the reply.

**"Kirkland fell. Hero is going to check up on him."**

"(￣ー￣）"

**"Go to Mei's room. I'll be there in a few minutes."** Immediately following, the Hungarian rushed out of the room as her teammates shook their heads, knowing of her strange obsession with making new couples, especially male homosexual ones.

Their coach just sat there and sighed as he continued to correct papers, wondering why he had gotten this group of teenagers on his team. As much as he loved each like his own children, he sometimes found them completely exhausting. But he did smile as he thought of the challenge awaiting the self-proclaimed hero.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So just FYI Kiku's texts were not bolded while Elizabeta's were. **

**Fourth Chapter! YAY! WOOOOOOO! *Lights fireworks waves flags***

**Thank you to my awesome Beta for being awesome and helping me! **

**Thank you to those of you that are following/favouriting/reviwing.**

**Thank you to any of you who are actually reading this.**

**And I will love it if people dropped me a review or critique, I've been feeling like my writing needs improvement lately so any suggestions...**

**WAIT! BEFORE YOUR LEAVE! *deadpan* I don't own Hetalia**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

**"There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse." Robert ****Smith Surtees**

I was lying on my bed when I heard the sound of a phone buzzing. I ignored it, deciding that if it was mine, I was in absolutely no mood to talk at the moment. I heard my roommate shift his weight on his bed and the sound of keys being pressed as he typed a reply. I sighed and buried my face deeper into my pillow, my covers thrown over my head and I imagined that if one looked at my bed they would only see a mop of green hair poking out.

As the phone buzzed again and Kiku checked his message, I could almost feel his eyes on me. He typed out another reply and stood up.

"Mei has invited me over to her room; will you be okay by yourself?" the quiet Japanese boy asked as I heard him walk towards the door.

I responded with an affirmative grumble and some incoherent statement about how I didn't need to be babied. I could practically hear the smile on Kiku's face, which was no doubt mixed with amusement and concern. He opened the door and stepped quietly outside and I breathed a sigh of relief.

It was short lived.

I had hoped I was imagining the soft greeting on the other side of the door followed by _that _laugh, and I was ready to believe that it was true when I heard nothing else for a few moments, but of course I could never get a moments rest. Nooooo... That would be too bloody fair.

There was a loud banging sound on my door and I tried to will the noise to go away.

Did it work?

"Artie, I know you a' in there, c'mon I just wanna talk." No of course it didn't work and now I had a damn attractive American whining at me from the other side of my dorm door. I couldn't decide whether his horrible grammar was a ploy or not, but eventually I couldn't handle it anymore and I threw off my covers, storming towards the door.

As Jones was going on some rant about being a hero, as well as something about a mission, I flung the door open and stared at him. I looked up (yes he is taller than me, shut up) I sent a glare his way.

"What the bloody fuck do you want, Jones?" I asked as I stared at his blue eyes.

Slowly those eyes blinked in confusion and he lost some of the confidence he had earlier, but he seemed to slowly regain it as he shook his head. "I came by to ask if you... You wanted some tea?"

I pursed my lips and was about to refuse when Jones pushed past me and entered my dorm. "I didn't invite you in." I stated, but I closed the door behind me and went to clean off a chair for Jones, even if he had rudely invited himself in; I still had to be polite.

"Did you bring tea?" I asked, but even as I did so, I was pulling out the electric teakettle that Kiku and I shared.

"No, but hey man, let me get that for you," he said with a surprising amount of gentleness as he pushed me into the chair I had cleared off for him. He found our stash of tea quickly enough as he set the kettle to boil. He was even smart enough to grab the Earl Grey instead of one of the green teas Kiku's parents had sent to him.

After he had everything set up and he handed me a cup of tea in my Abbey Road mug, he glanced around. I pretended not to watch as he scanned my room.

"Wow," he breathed out before taking a sip of tea and blanching at it as he struggled to keep it down.

"'Wow' what?" I asked tersely.

"This is not the room I would picture you to have." I glared at him and he quickly explained himself. "It's just that, ya know, I always thought you were a neat freak and I definitely didn't picture you having Doctor Who bed sheets or pictures of The Sex Pistols. Is that embroidery on your desk?"

Blushing, I took another sip of my tea and waited.

Uncharacteristically, Alfred was quiet for a few moments before he asked, "How are ya feelin'?"

Not bothering to correct his grammar, I shrugged and replied, "Fine, though I don't have a clue as to why you are asking."

"Arthur-" Alfred began but I cut him off.

"I am glad to see that they sent you this time; we wouldn't want anyone from the team to miss this experience. You can go back to Beilschmidt and tell him that I am fine. I don't see why he constantly needs to send people to check up on me, you'd think this was the first time it had happened. I'm fine, Jones, so you can just-" I hadn't noticed that I was becoming a tad hysterical and my voice was growing louder until I was practically screaming.

It wasn't until Alfred yelled my name after trying to get my attention as I flew off on my tirade, that I noticed he was becoming uncomfortable with the situation.

"What?" I asked before taking another sip of my tea.

"I was going to check up on you anyway, Coach didn't need to tell me to," he said as he stared me straight in the eye.

I said nothing as I glanced down at my steaming tea, which had been made exactly to my liking, I realized. (Three sugars, lemon.)

"What happened? I've seen Morgana get more out of control than that and you were perfectly fine. What's on your mind Arthur?" Alfred asked as he put his mug on my desk and flopped onto my bed (which was indeed covered in a bright blue TARDIS.)

"Nothing... It's just... It's nothing." I replied slowly as I fought internally with myself on whether or not to tell Alfred.

"Doesn't sound like nothing," was his reply as he moved my stuffed, winged minty-green rabbit out from underneath him, without making a remark.

"It-might-possibly-have-something-to-do-with-my-ass-of-a-cousin-who-is-so-much-better-than-me-and-who-is-going-to-beat-qualifiers-and-it's-been-stuck-in-my-head-that-" luckily Alfred cut my quick stream of an explanation before I turned blue from lack of oxygen.

"Calm down, Artie. Relax and repeat that slower." Alfred said as he tried to hide a smile.

I swallowed thickly and wasn't going to tell him again, when all of a sudden I found myself explaining the situation to Alfred, who despite everything, was actually a pretty decent listener.

"I've got this cousin, Oliver, and he is an asshole. He is the most stuck up prat I've ever met. He rides too, and he is going to be at the qualifiers. He is ten times better than I will ever be, and I wish I could say it was because of his parents were able to buy him the best horse and trainers, but he did it all by himself. I really want to move onto nationals, but with you and Oliver, there is no way in hell I can make it. So, I've been practicing extra hard, but Morgana has been harder for me to control lately and I just can't stop thinking about last time and..."

"You see me as a threat?" Alfred asked while frowning slightly.

"You are a pretty good rider, Jones." I said and I felt the tips of my ears heating up.

Alfred laughed a little at that. "Dude, you can't let this cousin get the better of you. Tell Coach you need a break tomorrow, and that you've got to give Morgana a day off, which you do. Relax and you'll do fine; even though you almost fell off, you still did better than I did."

"I can't take a break just like that. You don't understand, I have to ride-" I started getting hysterical again.

"Arthur, I know you are trying your best, but you have to take a break. If you keep doing this, Morgana is going to be too worn out and you won't move onto nationals even if you tried." Alfred tried to reason. I sighed. I knew that he was right but I wasn't going to agree. At least... Not until I looked up and saw that there was a mix of concern and a dash of childish pleading in his eyes.

"I'll take a break tomorrow, but I am still going to the barn." He gave me a strange look "It is four days from nationals and god dammit Alfred, you need all the help you can get for dressage."

Alfred just stared at me for a moment. "What? What did I do?" I asked.

"You called me Alfred." I swallowed thickly as Alfred's brilliant smile took up his entire face.

My face heated up and I imagined it looked as though my face was the colour of a tomato. "So what, you git? That is your name isn't it?"

"Yeah, but you never called me that before!" Alfred exclaimed as he jumped off of my bed and embraced me in a massive bear hug.

"Get off of me!" I demanded as I tried to push him off, but not before I got a whiff of the wonderful scent that should be bottled and sold as 'American Git', or something like that.

"This is so awesome! It means we are totally friends now, right?"

With the way he said it, I knew he wasn't asking, but I shrugged my shoulders and replied with a quiet mumble to the floor. "Yeah, I guess. It doesn't mean anything though." But it meant everything if the way my heart was beating wildly was anything to go by, however I did not dare get my hopes up. First of all, Alfred probably wasn't gay, and even if he was, then a guy like him would never go for a guy like me.

So, I sat in my room for the rest of the night, nodding and listening to him as he talked about practise, his friends at school, about how Ivan wasn't a bad guy and a good friend to Alfred, even if he was creepy as fuck, how proud of Matt he was for being more social than he was at their old school, and how he couldn't wait for Friday because Toris, Feliks and he were all going out to the town.

Eventually, the door swung open and Kiku walked in. He looked tired and I glanced over at my alarm and saw why; it was almost 0:30 and usually Kiku went to bed at around eleven at the latest.

"Hey Kiku." I said as I stood up. Alfred did as well and I could tell that Kiku was happy to see us together for this long, even if his routine had been interrupted.

"Alfred-san, curfew is at eleven thirty; you should go back to your room." Kiku said tiredly as he slipped out of his shoes.

"Got kicked out?" Alfred snickered as he got his shoes on. Kiku's blush was more than enough confirmation for the both of us.

"I'll see you at practise." I said as Alfred left. He replied with a grin as he walked out.

Kiku looked over at me as the door shut. It looked as though he wanted to talk about what had happened, but with his being polite, coupled with his exhaustion, he let me off the hook.

I got dressed for bed and as I lay down, I felt a little better and a little less stressed. The nerves of meeting Oliver again calmed down, though there still was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind, but it was easy to push aside after talking.

* * *

**Rant: **

**Chp 5 , sorry for waiting for so long orz. **

**On the bright side next chapter is the start of the qualifiers arc, and by arc I mean two or three chapters. **

**If you can guess who Oliver is (by that I mean, what country/section he is) you might get digital praise! HUZZAH!**

**Feel free to drop a quick review answering the above question or a critique.**

**I do not own Hetalia, otherwise the question of USUK becoming cannon in season five, would not even be in question, because it would already be fact.**


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